227 



Her connexion with druidical superstitions, round towers, fire- 

 houses, and perpetual fire, is too remarkable to be overlooked: it seems 

 to make good the opinion, that she had been the chief Druidic 

 priestess at the head of the vestals ;* and that Breoghidh, and the 

 daughters of fire, were in subsequent ages confounded with the 

 Brigidine nuns, of which order however there does not seem to have 

 been any establishment in Ireland, and in England only one.-f- 



From the foregoing statements, a well grounded conclusion may 

 be drawn, that these low fabricks are seldom found but in con- 

 nexion with the towers, and were designed for the preservation of the 

 sacred fire ; whilst the neighbouring towers were reserved for its 

 public exhibition. In some cases the lofty tower may have served 

 for both purposes. 



It is also very possible that these fire-houses may have been used 

 as cells by the holy men who first preached the Gospel in Ireland, 

 with the view of doing away the sanctity attached to them as recepta- 

 cles for sacred fire, and of changingthe current of respectful feeling by 

 giving it a different object ; hence, the high consideration with which 

 they were regarded, derived as it was from the union of reverence 

 for the preacher, and traditionary veneration for the hallowed fire- 

 divided into three ranks. The first vowed perpetual virginity, and lived in sisterhood retired 

 from the world. They were highly admired for their skill in divination, prophecy, and miracles. 



Wood's Religion, Ancient British, p. 45. 



All these qualities seem to have been embodied in St. Bridget, who was famous for her 

 chastity and her miracles. 



* Essay on the Primitive Inhabitants of Ireland, where Breghit is said to be the goddess of 

 Science, p. 158. Bridgit is recorded to have received the veil from St. Patrick, A. D. 453. — 

 Perhaps the then chief priestess, or Breoghidh, was converted, and being baptized, became the 

 famous St. Bridget. — Survey of Kildare, p. 10. 



f Anthologia Hibernia, III. p. 241 Philosophical Survey of the South of Ireland, p. 92.— 



Kildare is said to have derived its name from St. Bridget's oak, under which she delighted to sit, 

 — The oak was the sacred tree of the Druids. 



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